Buying stamps for postcards etc?

[Maclean girl]

This may be a dumb question but I am wondering if HAL sells stamps on board when traveling through the Mediterranean? I have a list of people to send postcards to and am not sure where I would buy stamps for them. Has anyone done that and can help me? I don't really want to be searching everywhere on shore during tours for local post offices if there is a simpler way to do this.

 

Any help will be much appreciated! Our very first cruise on Rotterdam is just over 2 weeks away...yahoo!! We are getting excited!

 

Dorothy

[Cruising-along]

You won't need stamps if you mail postcards from the ship. We were on the Rotterdam for a Med cruise last year. We took our postcards to the front desk, and they send them out for you (after you give them the postage fees). Hope this helps :)

[jtl513]

This may be a dumb question but I am wondering if HAL sells stamps on board when traveling through the Mediterranean?

We've found that many shops around the world that sell postcards also sell the stamps ... usually at a premium.

 

Since postcards from foreign countries take so long to arrive, my DW buys and writes them as we go along, but drops them all in a mail box when we get home, or the night before disembarkation when it is a U.S. port. (With U.S. stamps, of course.)

[sail7seas]

Front Office will sell you appropriate stamps for the country where they will be mailed. If you get your postcards, letters whatever to the mail slot by one hour prior to the ship sailing, it will be taken by the Port Agent that day and posted. There is a mail slot right beside the front office.

 

You probably will get home before your mail does though. ;) .... unless you are on a very long cruise.

 

 

[Krazy Kruizers]

I would always write my postcards while we were touring around the various cities. Then as soon as we got back on the ship, I would head to the front office and get them mailed before that one hour deadline.

[sail7seas]

We stopped sending postcards years ago.

 

So many times we beat the cards home by so long it was silly.

 

The way people can now e-mail and e-mail photos and give links to photo albums, it seems not as many people are sending near as many postcards.

 

Still, it is fun to receive them when someone does actually mail them.

 

[jtl513]

The way people can now e-mail and e-mail photos and give links to photo albums, it seems not as many people are sending near as many postcards.

True, but in our case elderly relatives without computers really do like to get them.

[sail7seas]

"I" Like to get them, too. :)

 

Just seems that not many people I know send them anymore.

 

[happyglobetrotter]

You can always mail your postcards from the ship, you will pays in US $$$ - cash only - and they will buy the stamps for you from the ship agent who will mail them. They round up the cost so you pay slightly more but is it worth it for the convenience.

[Solo Cruiser]

When I was in Europe (on another line :o ) I mailed my cards from the ship, no problem. I knew they would take longer to get to the US than I did but I only mailed them to myself. Sure it sounds silly but after I got back I kept getting little reminders in the mail of where I'd been.

[Jade13]

This may be a dumb question but I am wondering if HAL sells stamps on board when traveling through the Mediterranean? I have a list of people to send postcards to and am not sure where I would buy stamps for them. Has anyone done that and can help me? I don't really want to be searching everywhere on shore during tours for local post offices if there is a simpler way to do this.

 

Any help will be much appreciated! Our very first cruise on Rotterdam is just over 2 weeks away...yahoo!! We are getting excited!

 

Dorothy

 

Take them to the front desk one hour before leaving and they are supposed to mail them for you from that port. You must give cash (This year it was $2 from Italy and $1.20 from Tunesia).

 

Ok, my minor complaint this year, I grabbed the postcard of my Ship from the room and went down to the front desk in the morning and asked if I paid if it would def get sent from Tunesia (North Africa) and they said yes. So, (I know this is dumb, but I addressed it to myself so I could get the stamp - I had already been to Spain & Italy multiple times as well as France).

 

Anyway, received the postcard with a Greek stamp and I did not go to Greece this year. Ok, so I am out $1.20, but Hal should know (some) people who mail these want it posted from that particular port and I did ask first.

[Jade13]

When I was in Europe (on another line :o ) I mailed my cards from the ship, no problem. I knew they would take longer to get to the US than I did but I only mailed them to myself. Sure it sounds silly but after I got back I kept getting little reminders in the mail of where I'd been.

 

 

I do not think this is silly. I have a total blank on which year I flew to Madrid (3 nights) and which one to Barcelona and out of Portugal. On both trips I was traveling Solo. I am looking for my postcard from Madrid (I must have sent one) but recall throwing 15 or so postcards in a mail box in Barcelona and none were received by the recipients (I later learned - at least at the time - it was common for the mailmen to burn the mail).

 

I love when I find a postcard in my home and it it dated and I can recall that trip.

[sail7seas]

Jade......

 

You could have simply bought the Tunisia stamp from them. You didn't have to actually mail the postcard. I would think you would prefer it would not have cancellation marks over the stamp if the point was to have a stamp as a souvenir.

 

[Jade13]

Jade......

 

You could have simply bought the Tunisia stamp from them. You didn't have to actually mail the postcard. I would think you would prefer it would not have cancellation marks over the stamp if the point was to have a stamp as a souvenir.

 

 

I thought I would have both the Tunesia stamp and postcard of the ship....

[unclerich]

We actually had a lot of fun buying stamps locally throughout the Med last Spring. It's true that most places where you buy postcards sell stamps - the others will direct you to the appropriate location - usually a tobacco shop. In Tunisia, our tour bus driver offered to get the stamps for us and take care of mailing the cards.

By the way, we made up address labels beforehand to make the process simpler. Have a great trip!

[May4]

I use my own return address labels when I mail letters and post cards from the ship or from ports. I forgot to stick on the postage stamp one afternoon and the ladies at the front office were able to find me that way.

 

The letters I send usually arrive back in the US after I do, but I still get a kick out of sending them to relatives and friends.

[TonitheTiger]

You can always mail your postcards from the ship, you will pays in US $$$ - cash only - and they will buy the stamps for you from the ship agent who will mail them. They round up the cost so you pay slightly more but is it worth it for the convenience.

 

 

It may be just as easy to bring your own stamps. I was planning on sending out some gift to people, and plan to bring the envelopes addressed with me.:)

[jtl513]

It may be just as easy to bring your own stamps. I was planning on sending out some gift to people, and plan to bring the envelopes addressed with me.:)

Pre-addressing envelopes is fine, but I would strongly suggest that you don't try to mail them from foreign countries using U.S. stamps! :eek: